Briefing & De-briefing: The brain science behind good facilitation.
- Anastasya FoxofFire
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
For many of us LARP (Live Action Role Playing) is not just a game. It is an experience full of emotions. As players, we embody our characters, pre-written or otherwise, giving our best efforts to bring them to life, which may include deep emotional background, intense experiences, conflicts etc. Due to the intense nature of LARP, briefing and de-briefing are essential tools for a GM to support and protect the player's mental health and well being.
Briefing, according to Nór Hernø is an orientation session that informs and instructs participants before they are to do something. But this definition, even though absolutely correct, leaves a lot to the imagination. Briefing is also about emotional preparation and ensures that players understand the setting, themes, risks, and have realistic expectations for the game they are about to play. It’s a moment for consent, boundary-setting, and clarity.
Briefing is also paramount for the immersion of the players later in the game. As it is stated by Emily Brown and Paul Cairns: The first stage of immersion is engagement. This is the lowest level of involvement with a game and must occur before any other level. To lower the barriers to enter this level, the gamer needs to invest time, effort, and attention.
To sum up the "why" we could say that in a safe LARP context that explores themes of trauma, identity, death, or interpersonal conflict, clear briefings prevent harm by promoting emotional readiness.
De-briefing, is usually a meeting after a project is finished or information so obtained. It is a structured process following an exercise or event that reviews the actions taken. Sessions, especially those in which the players are well immersed, stimulate adrenaline and endorphin release. Once the event ends, a neurochemical drop can occur. This “crash”, or "drop" as we call it, can manifest as sadness, irritability, fatigue, or disorientation and leave a bitter or empty feeling to the participants.
Many players carry vulnerable or intense emotional moments from the game. These moments can feel isolating without validation. The GM needs to provide the safe space for communal acknowledgment of what happened and the release of those emotions. In these cases, de-briefing acts as a guided cool-down opportunity, in order to aid the body and the brain to regulate properly the intense experience. It also validates all parties and resolves conflicts or hard feelings that may develop during the game.
In severe cases of intense immersion the players or even the GMs may experience what we will informally call bleed in and bleed out. Bleed in refers to the phenomenon where the personality, emotions, thoughts, or experiences from a player seep into the character. This may happen due to OOG (Out Of Game) reasons that the GM has no knowledge of and cannot control. Only the player can recognise this pattern and learn how to keep OOG conflicts outside of the fun and enjoyment of a community activity. On the other hand, bleed out refers to the character’s emotions, actions and experiences affecting the player after the game has ended. Even though that may indicate a powerful activity, it is mentally and emotionally taxing and can keep the minds of the participants occupied even days after the end of the activity.
Now that we have a clear understanding of the why let's move on to the how.
After the game has ended make sure that the players can take a moment for themselves. That may include getting hydrated, eating a snack, going for a short walk, splashing some water on their face etc.
Make sure the de-briefing includes some grounding exercises such as box breathing, movement and stretching.
Ideally the participants, GM and players are all in a circle so they can see each other and feel safe to share when answering questions about the game such as "What did my character enjoy?" and "What did this game mean for me?" etc.
Create a symbolic rituals for leaving the character behind and going back to the real self. This can be through removing makeup, a part of a costume, nametags, a mental image of separating with the character etc.
If the game was a many-day activity also a 24h check-up with the players through a group chat, discord server etc. may be perceived as highly appreciated.
And many more!
Remember that LARP is a transformative experience that requires a lot of care. Briefing and de-briefing are not chores or optional! They are mandatory and show respect to the community and responsibility to it. They allow participants to dive deep, knowing there's a safe surface to return to.
Citations:
Hernø, Nór. (2025). "WEB: Workshop – Exercise – Briefing" https://nordiclarp.org/2025/02/07/web-workshop-exercise-briefing/
Brown, Emily. Cairns, Paul. (2004) "A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion." CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Raphael, Beverley. Wilson, John (2003). "Psychological Debriefing: Theory, Practice and Evidence."
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